In general, when an end-user utilizes a web browser to navigate to a web page of a website, the web page includes content that can be displayed within the browser. The content is generally created by the website owner. However, is some cases, the web page also includes references to content created by a third-party provider. For example, the web page can also include an advertisement of a website owned by the third-party provider. Thus, the web page can cause content to be displayed within the browser that is created by the third-party provider, in addition to content that is created by the website owner.
In some cases, the third-party content is static content. However, in other cases, the third-party content can be dynamic content rather than static content. For example, the third-party content may include different content based on what type of browser the end user is utilizing, how many times the end user has navigated to the current web page, or which web page of the website the end-user has navigated to. In cases where the third-party content is dynamic, the web page may not actually include the third-party content, but instead may include a reference to a system of a third-party provider that is responsible for determining which third-party content to display within the browser and providing the third-party content to the web page. The third-party provider's system is then required to determine which third-party content to display within the website, and to upload the third-party content to the website to be displayed within the browser. Determining which third-party content to display can involve a single query, or many queries, to a database located within the third-party provider's system.
Such queries to the database can be expensive in terms of processing time, and thus, can significantly increase the overall time required to display content within the web page displayed within the end-user's browser. Furthermore, the third-party content that is generated and uploaded to the web page can be significantly large, which can also increase the overall time required to display content within the web page, depending on a speed of a connection between the web browser and either the website or the system of the third-party provider. In addition, when the third-party content that is generated for the web page is dynamic, the third-party content can be different each time the end-user navigates to the web page, and thus, the dynamic third-party content can prevent caching of the web page by the browser. Also, when modifications are made to logic that is used to determine the third-party content to display within the website, the modifications are generally introduced to the system immediately. A modification can be an erroneous modification, or can produce unintended effects within the system. Erroneous modifications, or modifications that produce unintended effects, can impact the system instantaneously and can disrupt the performance of the system. All of this can make it difficult to maintain a consistent and efficient overall performance of a website that includes third-party content. In addition, it can be difficult for a website owner to evaluate the overall content displayed by one or more web pages, as some of the overall content includes third-party content that is only dynamically generated at the time the end-user navigates to the web page using a browser.